US Rugby Hall of Fame inductee and Jackson Walker partner Robert P. Latham recently spoke on the opening day of the TEAMS Europe Conference on June 27, 2023. As an Executive Board Member of World Rugby, Bob joined a panel moderated by SportsTravel Managing Editor Matt Traub and including Sarah Massey, 2025 managing director of Women’s Rugby World Cup, and John Eades, the UK managing director for DAIMANI, as they presented a case study on the Rugby World Cup.

The Rugby World Cup is one of the largest sporting events in the world, with France set to host the next one in a few months. Looking ahead, the United States is scheduled to host the 2031 Men’s and 2033 Women’s Rugby World Cup competitions, which is something Bob spoke about as one of the members of the World Rugby Council who voted in favor of the proposal.

Featuring (from left): Bob Latham, Sarah Massey, John Eades, and Matt Traub

The TEAMS Europe conference was held at the ExCeL Center in London on June 27-29, 2023. TEAMS Europe unites European and North American sport organizations with destination representatives from around the world. In addition to business development through a marketplace with pre-arranged appointments, the conference featured educational sessions focused on some of today’s most significant events and issues in the industry.

Meet Bob

Based in Dallas, Robert P. Latham has developed nationally recognized experience in the areas of commercial litigation, media law, intellectual property litigation, and sports law, and he is the chair of Jackson Walker’s Media practice. He has been recognized among The Best Lawyers in America in the areas of Commercial Litigation, Litigation – First Amendment, Litigation – Intellectual Property, and Sports Law among other categories, and he was named Dallas/Fort Worth’s “Lawyer of the Year” for Sports Law in Best Lawyers’ 2021 edition.

Outside of his practice, Bob has served two terms as Chairman of the Board of USA Rugby, a term as a member of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and a term as President of the (then) North American Caribbean Rugby Association. Perhaps more significantly, he has been a member of the World Rugby Executive Committee since 2011 and has been the Chairman of the World Rugby Regulations Committee since 2012. Notably, he was the first American to ever serve on the World Rugby Executive Committee.

In addition to his work with USA Rugby and World Rugby, he regularly publishes a column entitled Winners & Losers in SportsTravel Magazine. He is also the Chairman of the International Board of ARTICLE 19, the Board of Directors of the Dallas All Sports Association, and the Governing Committee of the American Bar Association Forum on Communications Law.